Daniel Bryan
|birth_place=Aberdeen, Washington, U.S. |death_date= |death_place= |resides=Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |billed=Aberdeen, Washington |spouses=Brie Bella (m. 2014) |partners= |trainer=William Regal Texas Wrestling Academy Shawn Michaels Rudy Boy Gonzalez Tracy Smothers Masato Tanaka |debut=December 1999 |retired= }} Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the WWE, under the ring name Daniel Bryan, where he performs on the SmackDown, where he is the current WWE United States Champion in his second reign. In WWE, Bryan held the WWE Championship twice and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once, in addition to being a one-time Intercontinental Champion. He was also the 2011 SmackDown Money in the Bank winner and the 2013 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner. He is the 26th Triple Crown Champion in WWE history and headlined several major pay-per-view events, including SummerSlam in 2013 and WrestleMania XXX. Bryan was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2016 by his wife Brie Bella and former tag team partner Kane. Danielson was previously signed to the WWE, then known as the WWF, for an 18-month period from 2000–2001. Prior to joining WWE for his second stint in 2009, Danielson wrestled for various companies internationally using both his real name and the ring name (and later nickname) "American Dragon". He wrestled for Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2009, being recognized as a "Founding Father" of the promotion, where he was a one-time ROH World Champion, as well the final Pure Wrestling Champion (unifying the Pure title with the World title). He was the first winner of ROH's annual Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2004. Along with CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens, Danielson is one of four men to have won a world championship in both WWE and ROH. Danielson also wrestled extensively in Japan, winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (with Curry Man) in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Between WWE, ROH, and Japanese promotions, he held eleven total championships, including five world titles. Danielson also won numerous titles on the independent circuit, including two PWG World Championships, the FIP Heavyweight Championship, and the wXw World Heavyweight Championship. In 2016, at age 34, Danielson retired from professional wrestling due to medical issues (including seizures) arising from multiple concussions and a brain lesion. Later that year in July, he was named the General Manager of SmackDown following the return of the WWE brand extension. In August 2017 following multiple consultations from doctors he was cleared to return to in ring action with the WWE. Labelled a "wrestling genius" by journalist Dave Meltzer, he was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame class of 2016. In Wrestling *'Finishing moves' **'As Daniel Bryan' ***Guillotine choke – 2011 ***''LeBell Lock''/''"No!" Lock''/''"Yes!" Lock'' (Omoplata crossface) – 2010–2016, 2017–present ***''Running Knee'' (Running single leg high knee) – 2013–2016, 2017–present; adopted from Hideo Itami **'As American Dragon/Bryan Danielson' ***Bridging dragon suplex ***''Arms Across America''/''Cattle Mutilation'' (Bridging double chickenwing) ***Crossface chickenwing, sometimes with bodyscissors ***Crucifix position followed by multiple elbow strikes to the side of the opponent's head ***Double wristlock to a grounded opponent followed by multiple stomps to the opponent's chest, face, and head ***''LeBell Lock'' (Omoplata crossface) – 2010 ***''Regal-Plex'' (Bridging leg hook belly-to-back suplex) – adopted from William Regal ***Triangle choke, sometimes followed by multiple elbow strikes to the opponent's head *'Signature moves' **Ankle lock **Arm trap seated abdominal stretch **Backflip off the top rope over a standing opponent369 followed by a crooked arm lariat **Cobra clutch to a facedown opponent **Corner elbow smash **Discus elbow smash **Diving headbutt (Independent circuit)/''Flying Goat'' (WWE) **Dragon screw **Dragon sleeper **Drop toe-hold into the turnbuckles, sometimes followed by kicking the second rope into the opponent's throat **European uppercut **Heel hook **High knee from the apron to the outside of the ring **Indian deathlock **Jumping knee drop **Multiple kick variations ***Corner drop ***Front missile drop ***''Yes! Kicks'' (Repeated shoot to a kneeling opponent's chest followed by a roundhouse to the opponent's head, with theatrics) ***Roundhouse ***Running big boot **Multiple suplex variations ***Belly-to-back, sometimes from the top rope ***Belly-to-belly ***Cravate ***''Danielson Special'' (Double underhook floated over into a cross armbreaker) ***German ***Northern Lights ***Snap underhook ***Super ***Tiger **Rolling fireman's carry slam **Running leg lariat **Single leg Boston crab **Sleeper hold **Small package **Suicide dive (Independent circuit)/''Air Goat'' (WWE) **Surfboard, sometimes while applying a dragon sleeper *'Managers' **AJ Lee **Brie Bella **Bray Wyatt **Dave Prazak **Gail Kim **The Miz **Nikki Bella *'Nicknames' **"The American Dolphin" **'"The American Dragon"' **"The Beard" **"The Best Wrestler in the World" **"The Dazzler" **'"G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time)"' **"The King of Beards" **"The Master of the Small Package" **"The "No!"/"Yes!" Man **"Mr. Small Package" **"The Submission Specialist" **"The World's Toughest Vegan" *'Entrance themes' **"Self Esteem" by The Offspring (Independent circuit) **"Obsession" by Animotion (Independent circuit) **"The Final Countdown" by Europe (ROH/independent circuit) **"The Rage (WWE Edit)" by Hermann Langschwert, Wolfgang Killian (WWE; August 15, 2010 – September 13, 2010) **"Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner (WWE; September 20, 2010 – July 29, 2011) **"Big Epic Thing" by Jim Johnston (WWE; August 5, 2011 – November 4, 2011) **'"Flight of the Valkyries"' by Jim Johnston (WWE; November 11, 2011–present) 'Wrestlers trained' *Alex Payne *Andrew Patterson *Bobby Quance *Coone *Dan Marshall *Farmer Joe *Kafu *Killer J Mathias *Melissa *Nikki Bella *Reno *Rhett Titus *Robbie Ryder *Simon Gotch *Sara Del Rey *Voltage *Zodiac